


The Things We Do For Family

by spn-x-reader (delphoxdork)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angry Dean, Angry John, Angry Sam, Angst, Betrayal, Brothers, Gen, Hurt, Young Dean, Young Sam, sam goes off to college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 20:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4579314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delphoxdork/pseuds/spn-x-reader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of Sam Winchester and his acceptance to Stanford University</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Things We Do For Family

As a kid, you think your parents are perfect. You believe that they have not faults and you aspire to be just like them.

Yeah, well I had a mom who was dead before I could talk and a father I hardly ever saw. My big brother was my parents, both of them. He made me food, he cleaned up after me, he taught me how to be a man, showed me how to be fearless. He was my everything. Sure when I was a kid I liked my dad, but no one could ever compare to Dean.

I tried to be like him, I tried really hard. I tried to be loyal, to stay with the family, to keep it together. Sometimes I felt like I was the only reason that Dean and dad didn't fight. But I couldn't stay, it wasn't me.

I applied to Stanford on a whim. I never thought I'd even get a letter of rejection, as if they would simply ignore my application entirely. I knew that I got good grades, but moving from school to school every couple of weeks made me a joke. But apparently not in the eyes of Stanford.

When I received my acceptance letter I was filled with a mix of emotions, but above all, I felt relief. I had a way out of this shit life of hunting monsters that I wasn't built for. Above all this relief I could hardly see the consequences that came along with the acceptance. Boy, was I blind.

When I first told Dean and my father I got two very similar reactions. Both of them were angry. Both of them believed I was abandoning them, which in a way, I guess was true. I didn't feel that way at the time though. I got angry right back. I wasn't surprised at my dad's anger, no, that's not what bothered me. But the look of hurt and betrayal on Dean's face, _that's_ what got to me. We all went to bed angry that night.

Neither of them said a word to me in a very long time, but that was okay. I had nothing that I wanted to say in return. The only time I ever heard their voices in the months leading up to my departure was when they argued, loudly, behind closed doors. I could only assume they were arguing about me, but I couldn't bring myself to care enough to find out.

It was two nights before I was planning to leave, although neither of them knew that. I'm sure they suspected I was getting ready to go soon, but there was no way I was going to tell them the actual date. It was two in the morning when I heard a knock on my door. I hadn't been sleeping, my thoughts of college keeping me up at night, but I didn't move either.

I could tell from the soft footsteps that it was Dean. If dad had anything he wanted to say to me he would have stormed into the room. It was only moments later that I felt my brother sit at the end of the bed. I continued to remain still.

"Look Sammy," Dean began, his voice took on a quality I hadn't heard in a long time. It was quiet, scared even. "I know you want to go off to college. I know you do. It's just that I- I can't-" he sighed frustratedly, seemingly at a loss for what to say. "We're family. Dad's made sure that you knew that– _I've_ made sure that you knew that since you were little. I did my best raising you when Dad wasn't around, which trust me, I know it was a lot." He paused, and although I couldn't see him and wouldn't look at him, I could feel his eyes on me. I didn't speak and so he continued.

"The point is, I- I've never really asked you for nothing, and, well, I'm asking you for something now Sammy. Please don't go," Dean's voice got increasingly quiet until it was almost a whisper. I knew he had been leading up to this. "Family is the most important thing in my life and I just– I'm asking you to stay here. We can do more together besides hunting. I've already been trying to talk Dad into it and—"

"Dean, stop," I interrupted him. He fell silent, seemingly because he hadn't expected me to say anything. I sat up a little so I could face him. "I can't stay here with you. You're my brother and you've been the best parents I could have ever asked for, but I'm not like you. I've spent my entire life trying to _be_ like you but I'm just not. I can't stay here and do something I'm not happy doing just to keep the "family" together."

"And going off, living with a bunch of _strangers_ is what's going to make you happy?" Dean asked, his voice rising a little.

"Dean, it's not about that. I'm not picking strangers over you. I'm choosing an education over a life of unhappiness. Just because I'm going away doesn't mean we're not family anymore!" I said, my voice rising too.

"Yeah, try telling that one to dad."

And that was the last thing Dean said to me. After that, he left the room, presumably so he didn't have to hear my response, and by that morning I had already left. Dad had made sure to pick up a hunt in Pennsylvania that week, which definitely wasn't for my benefit. But I packed the few belongings and clothes that I had in a duffel bag and I took the first bus out of there.

It killed me what I did to Dean. Not right at that moment, but _now_. Now that we're back together again, now that we're hunting. When he picked me up from Stanford it was as if nothing changed for him, and he went right back to being the big brother I always knew and loved. _That_ is what really got to me in the end. 

**Author's Note:**

> More sad things, yay!…
> 
> Read more of my fics at [spn-x-reader](http://spn-x-reader.tumblr.com) on tumblr


End file.
